D&D: Master of Masks (2006)
Decisions, decisions
Though it isn’t uncommon (or preferable), I often do entirely or nearly-entirely digital pieces now. I fight to keep regular paint a standard part of my mix, though. Early on, I would use spot illustrations as the primary place to experiment and learn digital tools, and so my years with D&D have a lot of these experiments, though I still managed to paint a decent amount.
This harlequin type character may have been a half-page vertical illustration—I’m not entirely sure and I don’t have any copies of the book around to check. Back then, inflation adjusted, the fee for a half-page illustration might realistically be only a day’s income. When working digitally, this was feasible for pieces like these where there is no or limited background. If it’s a multi-figure piece with some or significant background, it was nearly impossible to do them in that timeframe.
